


Perspicacity (Tattletale AU)

by EtchJetty



Series: Etch's Sketches - A One-Shot Collection [20]
Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 04:10:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21264851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EtchJetty/pseuds/EtchJetty
Summary: Lisa wakes up in a movie theater, surrounded by... herself. The movie begins to play.





	Perspicacity (Tattletale AU)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for PCT's Lisafic event a loooong time ago.

Lisa woke slowly, blinking sleep out of her eyes, shifting in the comfy chair she sat in. As her vision cleared she looked around, taking in the movie theater in which she found herself.

She didn’t need her power to figure out that this was _not_ where she had gone to sleep last night.

Lisa stood up. Where the hell was she? She scanned the room, looking for any exits. Sure enough, there was one right towards the front of the room, near the screen, beyond the rows of seats. Conveniently, it had the familiar “EXIT” sign hanging above it.

She was about to start moving towards the exit when she heard a door swinging open from behind her. Filing through it was an old woman, with short hair and a scar on her cheek. She had a big bucket of popcorn in one hand, and the other was using a cane. For a moment, Lisa though she was looking at her grandmother.

But it wasn’t her grandmother. If the smirk that the woman gave her was anything to go by, it _definitely_ wasn’t her grandmother.

“I’m most certainly not your grandmother, kiddo,” she said. “You know who I am.”

She did.

_That’s you, but older, _informed her power.

No shit.

The older woman hobbled to a seat and sat down. Lisa just stared at her. The older woman sighed. “My memory isn’t that great anymore, but I’m pretty sure I used to be more curious than you are right now. I mean, I didn’t think I’d need to give you _permission_ to ask questions.”

Lisa inhaled and opened her mouth. “Did I bite the bullet?” she asked.

Lisa’s older self cackled, leaning back in her chair. Then she sat up straight with a stern face. “You did,” she said. “So did I.”

Lisa swallowed. “How did it happen?”

The older woman raised an eyebrow. “Kid, you think I know what the hell you did to die? I barely remember what the hell I did to die. All I know is that if Lisa Wilbourne, Sarah whateverthefuck, us, we, die, we end up here. Each time.”

“Each time?”

Rather than respond, the older woman jerked her head in the direction of the door to the back.

Into the theater filed a number of blondes. Some looked about Lisa's age, and some looked significantly older or younger. One girl even held a small baby who was sleeping in her arms.

_Baby is you from that time you got chicken pox._

Jesus. Lisa looked at who was holding the baby. The girl was about 13 years old.

_You, from that time you babysat and one of the kids almost set the kitchen on fire._

Lisa barely remembered that. She could have, no, _did_ die?

Lisa scanned the room. Many of her selves wore variants of her older Tattletale costume, One or two of them wore her newer one. A few middle aged women were in civvies. She must have retired in those timelines.

“Hey, are we gonna start this fuckin’ thing?” A younger Sarah, from that time she got a pink hair extension clip and thought she was the coolest cat in town, jumped onto a chair. “I don't have all day!”

“Yes, you do!” shouted another Lisa. “We're ghosts, we don't eat or need to sleep!”

Punk rocker Sarah flipped the other Lisa off and sat down. As she did, Lisa's other alternate endings took their seats.

“What's going on?” asked Lisa.

“We're going to watch your life to see where you fucked up,” said the older Lisa. “It's a lot of fun.”

*Oh, I bet,” said Lisa, as she lowered the walls around her power.

_Legitimately enjoys watching the films. Has been here for a very long time. One of the first. Not the first. Doesn't actually know how it all works. Nobody does._

“Are you going to just try and psychic me, or are you going to sit down? Don’t worry, it’s edited down. None of us are going to sit through eight hours of watching you sleep.” The older Lisa unfolded the theatre chair, and sat down. “Come on. Show won’t start until you sit.”

“I’ll sit in a minute,” said Lisa.

_Nobody knows how they get here, if they’re ghosts, or what. That Lisa was the one before you. She’s nervous, but excited._

_Movie will not be wholly negative._

“Is a minute up?” asked the older Lisa.

_She knows you’re using your power. She’s using it too._

Lisa sighed. “Yes,” she said, “it is.”

And Lisa sat down.

And the film began.

* * *

The camera faded in from white, landing on a first-person perspective. The point of view character was walking through a hallway Lisa vaguely remembered.

Several of the Lisas groaned. “The bank scene, again?” complained one of them.

“Quiet,” said another. “I wanna see how this goes.”

The Lisa on screen quickened her pace. Voices were audible from around the corner:

“...the guy I’m setting you up with is a sixteen year old millionaire. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect him to foot the bill for dinner and a movie.”

“Could you two please shut up?” growled a voice from inside the room. The Lisa on screen sidled inside.

“Do they have to? It’s all very informative,” she joked. She walked to the edge of the room and hoisted herself onto a ledge, then greeted Glory Girl, “Hey Glory Hole.”

As Glory Girl’s face twitched, a few Lisas laughed. “I used that one, too!” said a voice.

On screen, Lisa’s gaze swung to Skitter. “Hey, Tattletale,” she called out, “Not that I’m not glad to see you, but could you avoid antagonizing Alexandria Junior?”

“Eh. You seem to have things under control. Why not set the bugs on the prom queen?”

“Prom queen?” Glory Girl asked.

As the scene unfolded in front of her on the screen, Lisa remembered the consequences. _Amy went to the Birdcage. Victoria has not recovered._

Lisa focused back on the film as her younger self opened a drawer and took out a keychain.

“Enough with the threats you can’t follow up on,” she said, grinning, “It’s not a gun.”

“Keys,” Glory Girl said.

“The keys of manager Jeffry Clayton. Type A personality, totally. Control freak. The kind of guy who loves to have absolute control over a meeting.”

“First of all, who cares? Second, how do you know this?”

_I didn’t. It was all a fucking lie. Nobody questions the Thinker, though_.

“Come on,” the Tattletale on screen said, “Villain 101. You don’t give info to the hero in a gloating monologue.”

The scene began to shift away. One Lisa groaned. “They keep cutting before it gets good!”

The camera resolved into Lisa’s vision as she walked towards Skitter, with a quick “This seems like a good time to cut in.” Lisa’s hand took Skitter and pulled her away from Miss Militia, and brought her to Scapegoat.

_Why this moment?_ wondered Lisa, as Scapegoat complained loudly about being blind. Then the camera swung around to reveal the Triumvirate. Lisa walked to join the younger heroes.

Right as about half of the crowd in the theater realized what was going to happen, Lisa remembered.

The Tattletale on screen said the word “Cauldron,” just loud enough for the heroes to hear.

Legend looked straight at the camera. “All three know,” murmured Lisa’s voice.

Lisa looked around the room. _They’re eating this up_, she realized. _They love me being cocky._

_Well,_ Lisa grinned as the camera faded away again, _let’s hope this next one is a good one._


End file.
